" . . . painting the looser side of realism . . ."
Writing about my life as an artist, plein air painting, traveling and whatever else might intrigue me.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Residency #1: Thursday, June 18

The sun came back for most of the day! We all packed our gear and headed out for the Etawah Woods Trail and on to The Three Sisters. My Sherpa and I had hiked the trail last Saturday, and then after lunch, we went back with the painting gear.

I took 16x20" and 12x12" panels. No sooner did I start the 16x20" panel, it started to rain. Sigh! We took all the gear under a rock ledge, and as the rain fell down, I had time to look at the new surroundings, just 6 feet from my original painting spot.

It was relatively dry, save for a drip or two coming through the dolomite shelf overhead that was sheltering us. I studied the rock and the trees and decided I would not waste the time spent here. I started a new painting on the 12x12" panel.

I just knew that if I started a new painting, that the rain would stop. And, it did. But I was interested in what I was doing, so gave up on my sisters start for the time being.

I worked until I was as far as I could go, not sure that the painting was complete, but I was tired after the one and a half hikes, and not a comfortable painting position sitting on a small rock outcropping, and still had to hike out of the gorge. I looked at the painting yesterday and decided it wasn't too bad. Fresh brushwork, clean color, and it the feel of the day.

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About Me

Permanent Collections : Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio Historical Society, Central Ohio Diabetes Association, Open Heart Recovery Unit, University Hospital, Baltimore, MD, Richmond Art Museum, IN; Private collections in the US, England, France and New Zealand
"Debra Joyce Dawson paints colorful, evocative outdoor landscapes. She travels extensively, and her paintings can serve as a painterly travelogue to India, Bhutan, England, Ireland, as well as to her more local surroundings. Her medium of choice is oil, with preparatory sketches in graphite, charcoal, pen or watercolor. Some works are small and completed en plein air; other works are larger and more complex renderings done in her studio. Her energy and delight in color, light, and shape are dazzling. But she never surrenders her subject, and each building, boat, hillside, or human figure is carefully pinned to the picture plane in the context of its surroundings. This places her in the best context of American Impressionism, whether one considers John Singer Sargent or Ohio’s own Alice Schille or Edward Henry Potthast." - Susan Talbot-Stanoway, Director Zanesville Museum of Art